One of the criticisms levied with increasing insistence against classical architecture is, precisely, its whiteness. Nowhere is this more visible than in the nation's capital, where the literal whiteness of the President's House readily assumes metaphorical connotations.

And yet: the White House was not originally white; it is not profoundly white—its whiteness is only skin-deep; and it is not permanently white—maintaining that whiteness requires constant effort. What can be learned, in this instance, by paying attention to architecture's color? Starting on the South Lawn, we will assess the longer history of this architecture's absent polychromy, with classical whiteness understood as (among other things) a register of historical ignorance, a failure of imagination, and also a design challenge.

Join us for a dinner seminar with Kyle Dugdale (Yale School of Architecture).